Pride is essentially competitive; it’s competitive by its very nature. We are not prideful because we are rich, clever, or good-looking. We are prideful because we think we are richer, clever-er, and better-looking. It’s the comparison that makes us proud….
The intentional gardener
It takes a lot of nerve to ask Sunday school teachers to tend to a zinnia seedling for two months when you’ve got dead ivy sitting in your kitchen window. But it was too perfect an exercise to underscore the…
Study: Megachurches can trigger false spiritual highs
“God’s love becomes … such a drug that you can’t wait to come get your next hit. … You can’t wait to get involved to get the high from God.” That’s what a megachurch worshiper said in a new study…
‘Those people’ and the 47 percent
“There are 47 percent who are with him [Obama], who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims…My job is not to worry about those people.” — Mitt Romney Mitt Romney got shellacked. When Romney’s fundraiser video was…
Long, long ago in a time far, far away…
I remember a day when one would get in trouble for passing handwritten notes in class! I also remember the first time a girl passed me one—be still my heart! Yes, I also remember black and white TV with a…
Three responses to 9/11 grief
Eleven years ago on September 11, I was in college. I was getting out of a Tuesday morning class when I heard people talking about an airplane crash. As I walked back to my apartment, I heard more and more…
Three questions
Following Jesus — while dealing with family, friends, work, school, the larger world and one’s self — gets complicated. Throw in background noise from political campaigns, product advertising and advocates of all sorts, and it is little wonder we lose…
Deacons in a Baptist church are a waste if . . .
Sarah looks at the ballot for deacons for the coming year in her congregation. Today in the Sunday worship services is the annual election of a new set of deacons. As she looks at the ballot, she wonders to herself,…
How to read the New Testament
I have recently put the finishing touches on my syllabus, lectures, discussions, and assignments for my introduction to the New Testament class I will be teaching this semester. Classes start for me this week and I will be beginning a…